Spinner

I've been to their San Dimas (SoCal) location and can honestly say they have the biggest on-hand inventory of leathers I have seen. If the NoCal location is the same, you can literally spend hours looking through everything. Prices are decent as well and they carry hardware, tools and other stuff too. Nice folks to deal with.

I just got a hide from W&C yesterday that I haven't even had a chance to unbox yet. I'll take a few pictures tonight when I open it so you can see what a piece of their "Utility" tooling leather looks like straight out of the box. Utility is their #2 (out of 4 possible grades), I've used all four and here's what I have found in the past from low to high: #4: Overstock is definitely luck of the draw #3: Special is about the same as Tandy's top grade #2: Utility is pretty damn nice #1 Standard: I these cows must have lived better than I do On the exotics, I'm not sure how they compare to LU (haven't shopped there, they seem to spread themselves a bit thin) but I just started using http://www.ostrichmarket.com and so far their selection has been decent and response/shipping was excellent. Last order was placed at midnight on 8/27 and it was on my doorstep 4pm 8/31from Florida to California.

I agree on the 18oz. I have the Stohlman 1lb. maul and like it but within a few months it started to feel light on projects with basketweave and other stamps needing a good "whack". That size is great for medium to fine tooling but the extra weight would be nice to have around. I'll be asking Beary for a 24 oz. here soon myself.

For those that are curious, here's my new little (big) reason to slow down:

Thanks Mike, I appreciate the compliments! Now if I could just get my leather business to be as busy as my turning business I could drop the day job!

It will be on it's way in a few days Boothill Bob. Also, I checked out your website after we talked last night, some really nice looking rigs & belts you have there!

Thanks Winterbear, Sixer & Kate. If all goes well with the move and such I'll probably work on new inventory around mid-October and hopefully be back on Etsy with them by November (just in time for Christmas!). The really funny thing about all this is I'm now one of the few businesses I know of that had to go out and buy more supplies the day before closing up the shop. To all those that have ordered the last few days, needless to say I'm a bit overrun with all the last minute orders but I've got supplies coming in and will have every order filled & into the mail by Tuesday 9/6 at the latest. (If I don't, my wife will kill me for not being able to help her pack!)

Looks like they forgot to pay their hosting bill...website is suspended/offline at GoDaddy Figured it out, here's the correct website addy (.net): http://www.accufast2d.net

They will work together if the acrylic is completely dry before applying the lacquer based product. Obviously the acrylic sealers work better as they are similarly formulated. if applied too early, the water content in the acrylics can cause the lacquer not to adhere and can actually cause a white haze under the top coat.

If it's simply a wall hanging or a non use item, Tandy's Super Sheen in the spray can will work just fine. If it's going to be a daily use item like a notebook, Neat-Lac & Clear-Lac are great (if you can get them). For heavy use items like holsters & motorcycle gear Resolene thinned 50/50 with water is my preference. The first coat on the stain/dye can simply be wiped on but when you apply the top coat over the paint, spray it on to ensure you don't pull up and drag colors around. A cheap Harbor Freight airbrush with a can of propellant can be had for about $12-15 and will give a much better spray than say a preval sprayer.

Now that is just plain slick! Boss Hoss has nothing on this ride.

Hey John, The website actually looks pretty good! Contact info is out in the open, payment methods, good pictures & descriptions and prices displayed. All pluses and many are usually missed. The only thing I could suggest on the website is the ability to click a button and buy the item. Currently, I'd have to email or call you to place an order, which is fine when trying to control design & inventory, etc. But many folks like the instant gratification of "your order has been placed" after a few clicks. If you're really looking to increase volume, this will help. Paypal has a number of "buy now" buttons that are easy to install & free to use to start out with. Your search engine results are fair given that you're in a pretty saturated industry (#12 for Cowboy Action Rigs on Google) could be better but could be alot worse too. Time and advertisement will help. I have also found that writing a blog and talking about your products, events, etc. and then linking to your website & products will greatly increase traffic. Blogs like Wordpress are indexed hourly by the search engines and relevant posts only take a few days to get into the high rankings. Other than that, I've had my best luck on related web forums. I simply go and either talk about my products, ask my clients to do the same and will even answer questions & problem solve on other companies products on various forums. This gets your name out there and testimonials from happy clients as well as those folks you might have given advice to for free (like how to care for a bib or saddlebags someone else made) will be thought of in a good light = good reputation=business. Writing how-to and educational articles for magazines, forums, blogs, etc. is another great way to get your name and products out there. Back to the question: as for my business (motorcycle related leather) it is split 50/50 between word of mouth and web related. Of the web related, 75% comes from folks finding me after reading a motorcycle forum post that either talks about me or that I wrote. The other 25% is either from my blog or a direct hit to my website from a search engine or passed out business card.

First off, there was recently a discussion on the different paints & finishes recently you might find useful: http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=33892&st=0&p=210032&hl=+golden%20+fluid&fromsearch=1entry2100322 Second, in my experience when doing pieces like this I find that applying the stain/dye first, then applying a sealer before applying the paint works best. The apply the paint, acrylics work very well for this, and apply a second layer of topcoat/sealer. Hope this helps. Chris

No worries Al, I actually just sent you an email to find out if you even received the first set before ordering another one! LOL. Glad they made it there safely, enjoy! Now you just have to start making things that require burnishing!

Sorry to hear that Big O, tugs at the heart strings that does. I wish you and yours well. Thanks Eagle, it'll be on it's way shortly! Mike - you're not kidding! I should have tried this retiring thing a long time ago! woodandsteel - check your PM.

For what most folks will use an airbrush for here, the HF models will serve very well. The main differences between say a $15 HF and a $100 Badger and a $200 Iwata are in the details that most folks wouldn't notice. Examples are: polished vs. rough cast trigger stems, tephlon coated & polished needles vs. buffed metal needles, silicone needle gaskets vs. rubber/nylon needle gaskets, built in needle stops, larger hose couplings, polished aluminum bodies vs. chrome plated brass, etc. The needles themselves are quite different as well, the taper length and style will determine if the airbrush will do pencil line thickness versus hairline thickness and so on. Here are two tips for making a HF get a little closer to it's higher end cousins: On dual action airbrushes, the trigger stem in an HF can be pretty rough (they aren't cleaned up after casting) so taking a bit of higher grit sandpapers,400, 600, 800+ and sanding out and polishing (stropping rouge on a rag can be used to polish) the four vertical sides of the stem will help it slide easier & smoother when pulling back the trigger. (this won't do anything for a single action airbrush as they don't have sliding triggers) A little wax or a machine surface spray like T-9000 will also help them slide smoother. Air hoses: the HF models are made with very small threaded couplings. They come with the small diameter plastic hoses that kink & break easily. For about $5 you can pick up an adapter that will bring it up to the more common coupling size allowing you to use the more durable, larger braided hoses. The braided hoses are also usually about 1.5x as long and are not coiled making them easier to get around and store. Cleaning tip: On internal mix airbrushes, backflushing is a handy trick when cleaning an airbrush. Fill your bottle or cup with the cleaner/solvent of choice and spray some out for a few seconds. Now place your finger over the tip so that you create a seal and pull back the trigger for 8-10 seconds. On gravity feed (top load cup style) airbrushes, make sure to put the cap on or close off the top of the cup somehow. You'll see the liquid in the cup/bottle bubble as air is forced back into the airbrush. This action blows the particles that can get trapped in the various ridges in an airbrush back the other way and loosen them so the cleaner can get to them. Side note: if you notice bubbles in the cup/bottle without the tip covered, this is generally due to the tip & head nuts not being seated properly or being dirty.

No problem, my mom does quite a bit of scrapbooking and other crafty stuff so I've seen it's limitations first hand.

Yep, I've seen that happen on 'craft glues' before. They are highly water soluable and meant for for scrapbooking, kid's wood projects, etc. They will break apart easily with anything stronger than water and break down relatively quickly when exposed to heat, moisture, etc. A stronger glue like weldwood, Gorilla clear, Barge or even Tandy's leatherweld would be far better. A good rule of thumb is if it says "not for use on washable wearables" that means it won't stand up against being around solvents or even regular use.

Thanks KX, I think back to the first sets I turned for us and it feels like it was years ago. My wife both damns and thanks you (Many a baby related item was purchased with burnisher income). The shop is always open to visitors (at least when I'm home that is) and you darn well better make time to swing by!

I received many more responses than I expected from my status update so I figured I'd address everyone at once versus typing the same thing a dozen times. LeatherBurnishers.com was started about a year ago after I turned a couple of burnishers for myself and King's X. The response was strong so I built the website to help manage the paperwork side of it a little bit. To be honest, I didn't expect it to go on for more than 2-4 months with an order here and there. A year and almost 600 burnishers later I'm a little tired. I had just gotten married last June (2010) and this June my little girl Emily came into the world. On top of all that my leather business finally took off February of this year and I also work a full time job in the Financial industry. Long story short, I need to manage my time a bit better as I don't feel like my little girl is getting enough of my attention so one of the hobbies had to taper off/go. I love leatherwork too much to give it up and the burnishers were simply a side gig to supply folks with an inexpensive tool and to help keep my leather gig paying for itself. I will still be turning burnishers; I actually love woodturning too but have done it for so long that extended breaks don't even break my stride anymore. The plan is to take a few weeks or so to get my schedule and my house in order (I'll actually be moving soon as well if everything works out) and then I'll open up the Three Mutts Etsy store again and sell the burnishers there. That way I can pick a day, turn some inventory and folks can buy them as they are available. I'll likely still take the occassional special/custom request but the lead time will be a little longer than the 3-4 days than it used to be. (Gotta admit, that's a pretty fast turn around for a custom turned piece ). Anyone who orders before 4pm Wednesday will have their order turned in this last production batch and I'd expect to have them all in the mail by this coming weekend at the latest. I'll also remain available to anyone who currently owns one of my burnishers for repair & replacement work going forward. I may not be producing new ones as often but I will continue to stand behind the ones I have out there. Just contact me through the Three Mutts Customs website if you don't have my info on hand, Thanks again to everyone who has ordered my burnishers and for making this one crazy & unexpected run! Chris

Thanks for the compliments. The leather is Wickett & Craig 6 oz veg-tan. I use two different skivers to thin down the bottom 2-3 inches of the leather where it wraps around and under to about 4 oz. I like to use 6oz to give myself plenty of thickness to give the tooling some depth, the skived section is to simply make wet-forming easier around the bottom. I made up a tutorial a bit ago, here's the link so you can see the process: http://tech.bareasschoppers.com/resources/leatherworking-101/ Chris

Freezer paper from the grocery store is fairly cheap and works well.

Looks good Mark. What did you use for the black design; paint/dye, printing or laser? The braiding is nice & tight as well. You mentioned mexican round braid, I'm assuming you did it with "overs only" to get the chevron pattern, right?